Isla del Ron Caroni 1989

Isla del Ron, a Scottish independent, bottled this single cask Caroni from the 1989 vintage, a 30 year release at cask strength finished in a sherry cask. Caroni is the Trinidad distillery that closed around 2003, and this is a markedly atypical reading of its finite, much-prized stock.

Where most Caroni leans industrial, sherry maturation has reshaped this one: the nose shows phenol, caramel, mint and wood, then a palate of mint, oily texture, raisin and clear sherry influence, finishing on mint, raisin, sherry and oak. It comes across unusually light and clean, with malty aromas and dried fruit rather than heavy tar and rubber, and the alcohol is well integrated for 52.8%. Some find it almost too removed from the classic profile, but it makes a relaxed, easy-sipping cask-strength Caroni, especially for drinkers who usually find the distillery too wild or dirty.